Somnambulism
by FeistyDreams
Summary: There's a storm rolling in, and Chiyo has to spend the night with Nozaki.


**A/N: **Based off a post by Tumblr user sassmasterkurapika. Instead of going to bed at a reasonable time last night, I wrote this. Unedited, too, so there may be some exceptional errors I made while sleepy.

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><p>"Ah, it's really storming outside..." Chiyo looked out the window, listening to the winds howling by and the rain looking to be falling horizontal somehow. Whistling at the force of the storm, she glanced down at her watch to double check and shook her head, "I thought the storm wasn't supposed to arrive until the middle of the night."<p>

Nozaki wheeled back and looked over her shoulder, humming thoughtfully. "Perhaps we should have kept the weather channel on, to keep up on it."

"I guess so. Let me check my phone, I'm surprised my family didn't ask me to come back early." She let the curtain fall back into place and went over to the table she had set her things on, wincing when she realized it was blinking and had been left on silent all day. Sighing and hanging her head, she had a feeling that her family wouldn't be happy about her not having responded before the storm came in, and she quickly sent off an apology before turning back to him. "Ah, with the storm like this, I think... ah..."

"Mm. You'll have to spend the night. I'll pull out the futon."

"I'm sorry!"

"It's fine. Besides, it's a bit exciting, right?" He gave her a broad and earnest smile, and even though she knew he was thinking about story scenarios, she had to return it and nod. It took him no time to get the futon set up, accustomed to having guests staying over frequently enough that it was never put anywhere difficult to reach.

She was setting her phone back down when he finished, and she smiled to him. "Thank you, Nozaki-kun! Still, I'm sorry about this. If I had paid attention to my phone..."

"Don't worry about it. Would you like to borrow a shirt to sleep in?"

Blushing at the very idea, she ducked her head, fidgeting the more she thought about it. It did make sense, of course. She didn't have any spare clothes with her, and there was no way she would ever fit in any of his pants. But he was so tall, a shirt of his would probably come down at least as far as her school skirts did, so really, it was the best option. "Ah, y-yes, p-p-please, Nozaki-kun..."

He raised a brow in confusion at her sudden nervousness, though he decided not to question it and simply went to find a shirt for her. While he was searching for something that would work well for her, she looked down at herself, at least grateful that since it was the summer break, she wasn't in uniform, and didn't have to worry about what to do the next day. Looking up quickly when he came back in, he rubbed the back of his neck and pointed toward the bathroom. "I set the shirt down on the counter so you can change when you're ready. I opened a spare toothbrush, too, so you'll have something."

"Ah, thank you so much, Nozaki-kun!" Smiling and blushing faintly at his consideration, she looked again at her watch, knowing not much time had passed. It was still early enough, there wasn't much point in changing just yet, and she settled back in front of the table. "Well, since I'm not going anywhere tonight, I might as well finish the rest of the pages!"

He smiled gratefully, watching her as she picked up the brush. "I'll put on some tea and prepare dinner." She cheerfully thanked him and went back to concentrating on the task at hand. The sooner it was done, the more time free time they would have, after all! Of course, free time with Nozaki still turned out to be work related, but it was at least entertaining, and she was able to learn more about him.

Dinnertime marked the end of her work for the night. The deadline wasn't so close that there was any need for rushing, and it was nice to have some time to relax before going to sleep, after spending most of the afternoon working. She got everything cleaned up when he let her know it would be done soon, and she had just sat down and turned on the weather station for an update when he set steaming plates of food down.

Happily digging in to the meal, she was always a little bit conflicted whenever she ate his food. It was so good! She could hardly compare. How could she show her affection by bringing lunch for him, when he always made such wonderful meals for himself? "Thank you for the food, Nozaki-kun! It was really delicious, like always!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Sakura." He stood up with their plates, pausing when she quickly stood up and looked at him with determination. "Ah, yes?"

"I'll help with clean-up!"

"That's not-"

"Yes! You did the cooking, so cleaning is the least I can do! Please, Nozaki-kun! Let me do the dishes and clean the kitchen!"

"Alright."

He handed the dishes over, and she marched into the kitchen with determination. She had been helping him for so long now, she had spent enough time at his apartment to know where everything went. Cleaning up, she stretched her arms up over her head, pausing when she spotted Nozaki in his pajamas, sitting in front of the television. They weren't anything special, a simple collared button-down shirt and loose pants, both of a soft looking dark blue material. That hardly mattered, though, as it was still her first look at them.

She took a seat on the other side of the table and poured herself a fresh cup of tea, barely watching the program on the television. She was too distracted by stealing glimpses at him, even though he wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary at all. The storm raged on outside, and she sent up a silent thanks to it, along with the wish that it passed over without causing damage or injury. The nice night spent with Nozaki wouldn't feel so nice in the morning if bad things had happened while she was blissfully unaware.

After some time had passed in mostly a comfortable silence, broken only by a few observations about the program, Nozaki finally stood and stated he was turning in for the night. "Good night, Nozaki-kun!"

"Good night, Sakura. Sleep well."

"You too!" She watched him head to his small bedroom, and with a quiet sigh she turned off the television so that she, too, could get ready for sleep. Changing into the shirt he had left for her, she studied her reflection in the mirror while wearing a goofy grin. It was so oversized it was ridiculous, and she realized that not only was she right that it covered at least as much as her school skirt, it even went past her knees! It didn't help that the wide collar made it slip off her shoulder. If she really tried, she could probably pull it all the way down, though that would probably stretch it some. It was just tight enough at least that it would stay on her without interference, at least, and that was what really mattered.

Giggling quietly at how ridiculous she looked, she finished cleaning up for the night and made sure her clothes were folded neatly and set aside for the next day. Crawling into bed, she lifted the shirt collar up a little, taking in a deep breath. It took her a moment to identify the scent, and she hummed happily at the realization that it was orange blossom. She guessed that he must use scented pouches in his dresser drawers, and the idea was just too adorable. What had initially attracted her to him was how calm and masculine he seemed. What _kept_ her attracted and interested was knowing that was only the surface, and there were things like this for her to discover, and she drifted off to sleep with that thought in her mind.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Nozaki awoke to the sound of movement in his apartment. It wouldn't have been quite so odd, but he knew Chiyo ought to know the layout better than to walk into a wall, or whatever it was she had bumped into. Getting up, he came out to find her seeming to still be asleep, and he scratched at the back of his head with this new realization. Thinking for a moment on what to do, he gently took her shoulders and guided her back to the futon, talking gently to her and hoping whatever she was dreaming the situation was, she would understand and go easy.

It was a relief to him that it did go well, but he was awoken by the sound of her bumping a table next, items rattling as they dangerously teetered or fell. Getting up with a patient sigh, he once again led her to back to bed. When it happened a third time, he found her in the kitchen, reaching for a plate. He managed to stop her, and this time he led her into his room. If she was going to keep getting up while asleep, he wanted to be able to stop her before she could either hurt herself or break anything. Or both. Getting her settled in against the wall, there was no easy way for her to get out of the bed, and he would definitely be woken up by her crawling over him.

He wasn't able to fall right back to sleep, in part because he was worried about her getting up again, even though he knew he wouldn't sleep through it. Mostly, though, he was thinking about how he had taken her into his bed so easily. It was a decision made in exhaustion, his mind muddled from being woken to take care of her, and his mind was starting to wake up some with her lying beside him. It was just as well that it was too dark in his room to really see her, or else he might really have been distracted. His memory was vivid enough to remind him of how she looked standing in his kitchen, with his shirt fluttering over her bare legs, one shoulder exposed from the wide neck falling down her arm. She had taken her ribbons out, too, of course, and the whole thing somehow made her look much older and more mature.

In that moment, he realized how much he liked the way she regularly looked, with her innocent charm. And taking care of her, he supposed he ought to have been annoyed at being woken up, but really he was just concerned and wanted to be sure she wouldn't hurt herself. He just hoped that she would let him explain that in the morning, or knew about her sleep-walking tendencies and could guess, before he potentially got labelled as a pervert. He simply didn't know what else to do, and he thought it best not to wake her to discuss it when there didn't seem to be a need for it.

At some point in his musings, he fell asleep. It seemed she didn't try to get up again, either, as he wasn't woken up by her clambering over him at all. When he stirred awake, the first thing he was aware of was that it was morning and there was light coming in the room. The next thing he noticed was that his face was pressed against something that wasn't his pillow. Blinking until his eyes adjusted, he found himself looking at her bare shoulder, and that he was lying partially across her. Slowly pushing himself up, his face felt warm, and he hoped that he didn't disturb her.

No such luck. She seemed to be wide awake, and was certainly wide-eyed, looking up at him with her own face bright red. "N-N-Nozaki-kun...?"

"Ah, S-Sakura. You, were walking, uh, in your sleep. I didn't, want you to get hurt, and, I thought, this way, I could sleep while, making sure you, didn't get up..."

She swallowed against the lump of nervousness in her throat, mentally berating herself for only a moment for not having warned him about that. "S-So you, laid, on top of me?" she squeaked, honestly not sure if her voice had come out so high-pitched that he could even hear her for a moment, except the color of his face started to match hers, and she realized this was the first time she had seen him anywhere near as flustered as he always made her.

"No, uh, I mean, I just, I set you, closer to the wall. I must have, rolled onto you in my sleep. That, it wasn't my intention, I'm, uh, sorry, Sakura."

Shaking her head slowly as she realized the full situation, she managed a shy smile, grateful for the care he had taken for her. "No, it's, I'm the one who's sorry. I should have told you, I just, didn't think about it. It doesn't happen often, and, I do alright at home, when it does... Thank you, Nozaki-kun. For, taking care of me."

He simply nodded, at a loss for words, not sure what might be appropriate just then. Another moment later, he realized he was still holding himself up over her, and he turned to swing his legs off the edge of the bed. Coughing nervously into his fist, he got up, keeping his gaze straight ahead, "I'll get breakfast going."

She blinked in disappointment when he moved away, but when she felt sure he was still flustered by the situation, she sat up and smiled at him. "Thank you, Nozaki-kun," she said again, her voice quiet. He seemed to press his lips together, and he took purposeful steps out of the room. Covering a giggle, she smiled brightly at this first hint that maybe her feelings were requited after all. The storm had passed during the night, and the sun was shining in through the windows, and they had all day to spend together if they wanted. It was going to be a great day!


End file.
